Chapter 52
I awkwardly grabbed the knight’s shoulder, trying to help him up. His rigid body remained stubbornly still, as if waiting for words of affirmation.
“This is… a delicate matter, you see.”
“If you could just put in a good word for Sir Glion to Her Highness, or even to His Highness the Crown Prince…”
“I’m not in a position to…”
The knight beside the first practically crumpled to his knees. Flustered by their desperate pleas, a thought suddenly struck me—the newspaper article I’d seen earlier.
Ah!
That’s it.
A perfect plan to kill two birds with one stone: a reason to visit Hestia and a way to spread the rumor.
***
People prefer entertaining fiction over boring truth. Why else would every nation’s founding myth involve kings hatching from eggs, rising from light, or receiving divine blessings? Because it’s entertaining.
With my hood pulled low, I stood before the offices of the yellow press, a sly smile playing on my lips. My high-class, albeit unpaid, security detail looked on, bewildered, after confirming my destination.
“Why… why here?”
“This is the place that published that malicious article about the Princess. I angered her, and I’m not sure if she’ll see me. But I think if I bring information about who spread the rumors from the palace, she might.”
“Ah, I see.”
Looking deeply enlightened, the knights rattled their swords, suggesting they handle the situation with a show of force.
I stopped them. “I’ll ask for your help if things get difficult inside. Secrets are always easier to coax out with gentle persuasion.”
Is that so? they seemed to silently ask each other with a glance. Leaving them to their contemplation, I pushed open the rickety door with a confident air.
“Who—who are you?!” a skinny man with a monocle and a frazzled appearance shrieked at my intrusion. The large room reeked of ink, with stacks of paper piled high everywhere. People, busy moving papers and dipping pens, stared at me with wide eyes.
“Who are you? Are you here to submit a story? Or to complain about one? If it’s the latter, we only publish reliable, verified information…”
Smiling brightly, I pulled a pouch from inside my cloak and tossed it in front of the rambling man. The clinking of coins caught his attention. I then produced a small booklet and placed it atop the pouch.
“I have two requests. First, the identity of the informant who divulged details about the Princess’s chambers.”
“What?! Do we look like the kind of rag that can’t even protect the identity of its sources?”
Such noble words from such a yellow journalist. I pulled out another pouch of the same size and tossed it onto the pile. More clinking. The man was speechless. Oof, my precious money.
“If you cooperate, all this is yours.”
“But…”
“And second, I want you to publish a story based on the contents of this booklet.”
“Excuse me?”
“This booklet came to me through a pilgrim. If you were able to find out who entered the Princess’s chambers, you certainly know what was said at the banquet, right?”
“Well…”
“This booklet, whose existence has been hidden for ages, accurately predicted the monster that recently appeared in the west.”
The man’s one good eye gleamed behind his monocle.
“Let… let me see!” He snatched the booklet with eager hands and flipped through the pages.
I waited patiently as he scanned the few pages of the small, fabricated booklet. The others in the room peered over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the contents.
“This… this is…”
“Worth publishing, isn’t it?”
The man with the monocle scurried over to me.
“But this is a secret document from the Temple! Are we allowed to publish something like this?”
Says the man who had no qualms about splashing royal scandal across his pages.
“Suit yourself. Oh, and if you don’t tell me who spread the rumor about the Princess in the next ten seconds, you can give the money back, too.”
I lifted my chin and held out my hand, inwardly nervous that he might actually take me up on the offer.
Fortunately, he clutched the fake booklet I had painstakingly crafted to his chest and shook his head.
“Alright! I’ll write the article with utmost sincerity!”
Perfect. Judging by his writing skills, he should be able to spin a good yarn about the Monster King’s relic and the mythology I invented around it. Once the rumor spreads that whoever possesses the relic gains true power, it will be easier to track it in the black market.
“But… shouldn’t we inform the Temple or the Royal Family before publishing something like this…?”
That would be disastrous. It’s all based on the original story, with a few embellishments of my own.
“Just say it was a request from someone on a secret mission.”
I winked and grasped his collar. “So, who spread the rumors about the Princess?”
“Ugh!”
He clamped a hand over his mouth, but the sight of yet another pouch of coins loosened his tongue.
After tracing the rumor back from a stable hand to a kitchen worker, and finally to a new palace servant stationed in the hallway, I left the shabby newspaper office with a light heart.
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